


High School AU Ficlets

by googleduckuments



Category: Hunter X Hunter
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Marching Band, Multi, Nonbinary Character, more characters (and possibly more relationships) to be added later
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-08
Updated: 2014-10-16
Packaged: 2018-02-20 10:28:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2425364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/googleduckuments/pseuds/googleduckuments
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Just a series of small stories from a Hunter X Hunter high school AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Band Camp

The summer that year was miserably, obscenely hot.

 

Ordinarily, that would have meant that Killua would spend all his time indoors, surfing the internet and marathoning shows on Netflix, until either the weather decided to get back below 90 degrees or school forced him to leave the house.

 

Not this year, though. Ohhhh no. This year, their freshman year in high school, Gon had convinced him to join the marching band.

 

Which meant that instead of relaxing inside with his laptop and a soda, he was out here, on the portion of the school's parking lot that served as the band’s practice field, learning the fundamentals of marching from one of his brother's creepy friends in 95 degree weather.

 

"Why do I even need to learn how to march, anyway?" he complained to Gon during a water break, fanning himself with his "Welcome to Band!" packet. He was wearing a tank top and the shortest pair of shorts he owned, and he still felt like he was in a sauna. "I've been assigned to play in the pit. I'm not even going to be on the field!"

 

Gon just grinned at him- his usual spiky hairstyle was drooping slightly, but he seemed entirely unruffled by the heat. "Well, it wouldn’t be marching band if you didn’t learn how to march, would it?"

 

Killua sighed and crushed his styrofoam cup. "This is going to be a looooong month," he grumbled.

 

\----

 

A little bit later, blessedly, the percussionists and brass were allowed to go inside to practice their music while the woodwinds took a turn in the firey hell that outdoors had become.

 

It was then that they met an upperclassman who actually seemed kind of cool- their name was Kurapika, and while they were actually a member of the color guard, they'd been roped into working as a music librarian, as well.

 

"So, how are you two liking band camp so far?" they asked cordially as they handed Killua and Gon copies of the sheet music for the school's fight song. Their blonde hair was pulled up into a messy bun to keep it off the back of their neck, and they were wearing a teal shirt that read "If you can't spin, don't touch my flag."

 

"It's too fucking hot," Killua said at the same time that Gon exclaimed, "It's great!"

 

Kurapika chuckled. "Sounds about right. Well, if you need any extra copies, just ask me or Melody." They motioned to a chubby girl in a loose floral dress, who was rifling through a file cabinet on the other side of the room. Then, they turned back towards the two freshmen, their face suddenly serious. "And if anyone in your section gives you trouble, you let us know, okay?" they said in a lowered voice, pointedly glancing over Gon's shoulder.

 

Killua snorted. "What, you mean Hisoka? He's my older brother's best friend, I know how to deal with him."

 

Kurapika's eyebrows shot up in recognition. "Wait, are you another Zoldyck? How many of you even are there?"

 

"Five- I've got two little sisters, in 7th and 5th," Killua grinned when Kurapika looked somewhat horrified. "But don't worry, they're not nearly as much trouble as my brothers are."

 

"Are either of them in the band?" they started to ask, before someone in the trombone section hollered that he'd lost his copy of "Hooked On A Feeling."

 

Kurapika rolled their eyes and sighed. "Well, sounds like I've gotta go. Have fun, you two."

 

\----

 

“Honestly, what am I going to do with you?” Kurapika grumbled as they strode towards the “oval office,” an area of the band room walled in by desks and file cabinets that no one save the librarians were allowed to enter, said trombonist following behind them like a puppy. “Band camp’s barely even begun and you’re already losing your music?”

 

“I lost it over the summer!” Leorio protested. “How was I supposed to know we were gonna be playing it again this year?”

 

“It’s not a show song, it’s a stand song. Meaning we play it every year. And no, you can’t come in here,” they said, stopping him before he could follow them into the office.

 

Leorio stood there, rocking on his heels, while Kurapika edged around where Melody was working and searched for the proper file drawer. Of course, it turned out to be the one their fellow librarian was re-organizing, so they had to wait until she was finished before they could get the music they needed.

 

Finally, they got it, and brought it back out to Leorio, who grinned at them as they handed it to him. “Thanks, Kurapika. You’re a lifesaver.”

 

Kurapika couldn’t help but smile a little back at him. “Just keep better track of your music from now on, okay?”

 

“Will do,” the trombonist said with a mock salute, and strolled back to his seat, still grinning to himself.

 

And if he’d been being a little more careless than usual with his music since Kurapika became a librarian, could anyone really blame him?

 

 


	2. Chess Club

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Komugi, national high school chess club champion, has a new challenger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer for this chapter: I am not vision-impaired, so I do not actually know what it's like to be blind. If any part of this is incorrect or disrespectful in anyway, please let me know!

During her free time, when she wasn't in class or at home, Komugi would sit quietly in a classroom, the only things in her awareness a chair, a desk, the sound of Mr. Diego quietly snoring, and, of course, the pieces on the chessboard.

 

No one really wanted to be in the chess club- as Mr. Diego had somewhat bluntly put it, "Who'd want to measure themselves up against the national champion?"

 

So, she sat there, playing against an imaginary opponent, trying to develop ways to defeat her own strategies- until one day.

 

The usual snoring, the usual occasional footsteps coming from the hallway outside. But then, a set of those footsteps came inside, muffled by the carpet. Komugi stayed silent, waiting for the visitor to announce their intent.

 

"You're Komugi, right?" said the person. It seemed he was likely a boy, taller than her but shorter than average.

 

She turned in his direction. "Ah, yes. That's me."

 

The footsteps moved closer, moving around to the front of her desk. "I want to play against you."

 

Komugi was so surprised by this forthrightness that she remained silent as she heard the dull scrape of a chair being dragged across the floor, to bump up against the opposite side of her desk. There is a rattling thud, of a backpack hitting the floor.

 

"Y-you mean... play chess?" she stammered, finally finding her voice.

 

"Well, yeah," he says, and sits down across from her.

 

She had been in the middle of a "game," so the pieces are all over the board- she hears him start to rearrange them into their starting positions.

 

"So you, uh... want to join the chess club?" Komugi asks, confused.

 

"No," he says curtly. "I just want to see if I can beat you."

 

"Oh. O-okay."

 

So, the game began. Komugi had to admit, the boy wasn't that bad- but, to her, his moves were entirely predictable.

 

As they played, he had a lot of questions- Why did she only open her eyes when she played? How did she keep track of whose pieces on the board were whose? (Because it helped her concentrate. She didn't know how, she supposed she just had a very good memory.)

 

Then, she moved her bishop into place, and said, "Checkmate."

 

The boy was silent for a moment. Then, he hummed thoughtfully. "Let's play another."

 

So, they did- this time, the boy talked much less, evidently focusing more intently now on strategizing.

 

And she checkmated him, again and again and again. An edge of frustration developed in his voice, but he otherwise didn't react to his repeated failures- at least, not as far as she could tell.

 

Then, in the middle of their sixth game, there was an electronic "ping!" from somewhere down and to the left of his voice. The boy grumbled something, and she heard a series of shuffling noises as he checked his cell phone.

 

"Ugh, I've got to go," he said over the clicking of him tapping out a reply. Komugi nodded.

 

The boy stood up, grunting as he slung his backpack back over his shoulders. "I'll be back again tomorrow," he announced. "I'm going to beat you, just you wait."

 

Komugi didn't say it, but that was pretty doubtful- while his technique had been evolving as he played, he still hadn't even come close to challenging her.

 

But as he moved to leave, she suddenly thought of something.

 

"Wait!"

 

The footsteps paused. "Yeah, what?"

 

"C-could you... tell me your name?"

 

He was silent for a moment, then simply said, "Meruem." And then he turned and left.

 

"Meruem," Komugi repeated quietly to herself.

 

She heard shuffling and the creak of a desk chair from across the room. “Hey, kid, are you gonna leave soon or what?”

 

“O-oh, right. Sorry, Mr. Diego,” Komugi stammered. She gathered up the chess board and pieces, put on her backpack, and picked up her cane.

  
For once, she was really looking forward to the next day.


	3. The First Game

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the title says, the first football game of the season, featuring one adorable side character.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A small warning for this chapter- it does contain a little bit of canon-typical transphobia, courtesy of Illumi.
> 
> Pretty much everything marching band-related here is based off of traditions in the marching band I'm a part of.

"So, you two ready for your first game?"

Killua glanced up from organizing his flip folder to see Kurapika, already suited up in their glitzy black and red color guard uniform. He shrugged. "Yeah, I guess so."

"I'm really excited!" Gon exclaimed next to him. "Is it true that we get third quarter off to go to the concession stands?"

"Yep! The other bands do too, so it's a good chance to meet new people," Kurapika said sagely. "Just be careful to get back to the stands before fourth quarter starts or Mr. Netero might kill you."

Killua grimaced- he didn't doubt it. "Got it."

At that moment, somebody realized they'd lost their copy of the Alma Mater again, so Kurapika had to leave abruptly.

The band room was abuzz with activity- people were warming up, changing into their uniforms, organizing their music, and otherwise generally just screwing around, as band kids tended to do. Gon and Killua hadn't bothered to put their jackets on just yet- the decision that the band should wear full unforms at the first game of the year, when the summer weather hadn't quite toned down into fall yet, had been widely protested, and they were putting it off for as long as possible.

Soon, they went outside to prepare to march to the stadium. Gon was nearly vibrating with excitement, and kept tapping his fingers against the surface of his snare drum. The band lined up in their assigned parade positions, Gon in the middle with the rest of the marching percussion and Killua in the way back to help move the cart loaded with the pit instruments.

Pregame was relatively uneventful- they'd practiced it so many times during band camp that it was almost muscle memory. Things only got interesting when they went to head up into the far left side of the stands, the designated area for the band.

Standing towards the front of the crowd in the bleachers (but so motionless that Killua hadn't even noticed him until Hisoka dashed over to talk to him) was his oldest brother, Illumi. But more importantly, sitting next to Illumi and fiddling with the hem of her purple sundress was-

"Alluka!" Killua exclaimed, dashing up the stairs towards her.

Alluka looked up, slightly startled, but grinned when she saw him. "Big brother!" she shouted happily, jumping up from her seat and quickly edging past Hisoka and Illumi to get into the aisle.

As soon as he reached her, Killua bent down, grabbed Alluka in a hug, and then picked her up with a slight grunt of effort. She giggled, holding on tightly to his shoulders.

"I didn't know you were gonna be here!" Killua said, smiling at her. "Did Illumi bring you?"

"Uh-huh," Alluka confirmed, noticeably holding on a little tighter at the mention of their older brother.

Illumi, who had been watching the exchange, cut in. "Yeah, when I mentioned I was going he said he wanted to come along."

Killua pointedly ignored him. "Here, come sit with us in the band," he said to Alluka, turning towards where the percussion and color guard were setting up in the open space in front of the first row of benches.

Kurapika looked over with interest as Killua set Alluka down. “Is this one of your little sisters you mentioned?”

“Yep, this is Alluka,” Killua nodded, keeping a hand on his sister’s shoulder. “Alluka, this is Kurapika. They’re in the color guard.”

Kurapika and Alluka, it turned out, got along quite well, and they introduced her to the rest of the color guard while Killua chatted with Gon for a bit.

Soon, the game was in full swing, the band standing up every few minutes to play. Gon’s aunt Mito, who had enlisted as an official “band mom,” passed out cups of water to everyone to help them cope with the heat. Alluka, it seemed, had been welcomed as an honorary color guard member, and was being taught all the dances they did in the stands- as well as a few brass section traditions, by a trombone player named Leorio who seemed to hang around Kurapika a lot.

"No, Leorio, you can't make her do that. She's not even a member of the trombone section!"

Leorio faltered a little at Kurapika's admonishment, but still looked determined. "She's gotta be initiated! What's even so bad about it?"

Alluka and Killua looked on in slightly confused fascination as the two argued.

"What's 'so bad about it' is that you're trying to make a middle schooler eat an entire Pixie Stick! Including the wrapper!"

"Hey, I did it when I wasn't much older than her! Plus, it's an important tradition!" By now, said Pixie Stick had been irreparably crushed in Leorio's fist, but he didn't seem to have noticed.

"It's an awful tradition! You're going to make somebody choke to death one of these days!"

"Look, why don't we just ask her what she thinks?" Leorio whirled around to stare intensely at Alluka, who looked back at him wide-eyed. "Alluka Zoldyck, do you agree to be initiated as an honorary member of the Hunter Marching Band brass section?"

Alluka frowned and crossed her arms. "No. I'm gonna be in the color guard."

Killua struggles to resist the urge to laugh as Leorio choked on his attempts to make a comeback, Kurapika looking extremely smug behind him.

"See? I told you," they said, patting him on the shoulder.

Leorio just sat down, grumbling under his breath.

Halftime finally rolled around, and Alluka sat with Aunt Mito to watch the show. Because it was so early in the season, it was a short one- just some maneuvers set to "Hooked On A Feeling," and then the band stood still and played "Sweet Child O' Mine," with accompanying dances.

Then, it was third quarter. Gon, Killua, Alluka, Kurapika, and Leorio all ended up going down to the concessions as a group. Killua noticed with relief that Hisoka and Illumi had made themselves scarce as soon as halftime ended- doing what, he didn't know and didn't care.

The group picked up water bottles from the coolers set out for the band, and found an empty picnic table to sit at while Kurapika went to buy a couple of trays of nachos. They spent the time listening to Kurapika and Leorio's stories about previous years, including "that one time when a clarinetist fell facefirst onto a snare drum and had to go to the hospital," and "that one year when it rained literally every game."

Once the game clock hit two minutes, they decided it was probably time to go back to the stands. Fourth quarter, it seemed, was when the band stopped trying to seem at all professional, and several rounds of "the wave," as well as some drum cadences with less-than-appropriate accompanying chants ensued. Killua almost felt as though he should be covering Alluka's ears for some of them, but she seemed to be having such a good time that he didn't have the heart to.

In the end, their football team lost, but the band didn't really care. Illumi tried to take Alluka back home, but was intercepted by Kirapika, who insisted she go out with them for ice cream, as it was the post-game band tradition (and because they had heard quite enough about how Illumi treated Alluka from Killua).

So, everyone piled into Kurapika's 90's-era minivan to go to the local "fast food and ice cream"- type restaurant- Leorio called shotgun, Killua and Alluka sat in the middle seats, and Gon sat in the back.

By the end of the night, everyone agreed they had ordered way too many fries, and Alluka looked so tired, Killua was worried she was going to faceplant into her mint chocolate ice cream. Before she fell asleep on the drive home, however, she drowsily asserted that she was going to do this every Friday, no matter what that buttface Illumi said.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Michelle (machiabellian on here) for helping me develop this AU!


End file.
